The people of Igbo Etiti LGA of Enugu State came out in their numbers Saturday to receive the governor of the state, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who was there to attend a grand civic reception in his honour by the people under the auspices of Igbo Etiti Gburugburu Movement.
The event which took place at the Ikolo Field beside the council Secretariat, Ogbede, attracted the largest assemblage of the people of the area in recent times to receive the governor as they sang, danced and cheered him endlessly.
In his welcome address, the Transition Chairman of the Council, Hon. Malachy Agbo, while extolling the virtues of the governor, expressed how delighted the people of Igbo Etiti were to welcome their amiable leader.
“We cannot thank you enough for coming to visit us. We also thank you for your achievements and strides in developing the state of which our local government and her good people have benefited so much. However, as the human needs are unending, while thanking you for what you have so far done, we will still like the proverbial Olivia Twist stretch out our hands to ask for more”, Agbo said.
Agbo thereafter went on to enumerate some carefully-selected areas he wished the governor could give further attention as they were very critical to the infrastructural and human development needs of the local government.
Earlier in his remarks, the President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief (Dr.) Nnia Nwodo, assured the governor he was home as Igbo Etiti was one local government area his popularity extended to every household.
He pointed out that the tumultuous crowd attested to their acceptance and fondness for their governor, whom he said received among the least from the federal government allocation of funds but had been adjudged third-best among all the governors in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, in his welcome remarks, the Co-ordinator of Igbo Etiti Gburugburu Movement, Prof. Fred Nwodo, noted the day was a dream fulfilled as they had put the forum together in appreciation of the governor’s unrelenting efforts to spread development evenly across the state hence the need to mobilize more support for him.
The visibly-excited governor in his response thanked the people for finding him worthy of their huge support and goodwill.
He regretted that his administration came on board when the country was facing some revenue.
However, he reiterated his total commitment to taking the state and her people to the highest level possible, promising his government would do all within its powers to address some of the issues and requests raised.
Among the digniteries present were, the Senator representing Enugu North Senatorial Zone, Senator Chukwuka Utazi; Hon. Princess Stella Ngwu, Member, Federal House of Representatives representing Igbo Etiti/Uzo Uwani Federal Constituencies; Former Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo; former Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Chief Okechukwu Itanyi.
Others included Dr. Emeka Ugwu-oju, immediate past Chairman, South East Professionals, Engr. Charles Nwodo Jnr, Group CEO, XL Africa Group; serving and former members of the State and federal legislators; serving and former Commissioners from the area, professors, medical doctors, lawyers, teachers, market women, farmers, traditional rulers and other leaders of thought.
